As President Reagan entered office in 1981 he repeatedly called for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, yet never submitted a balanced budget himself.

Many on the right reflexively blame the Democratically controlled Congress for the ďbig spendingĒ during his administration, even though Republicans controlled the Senate for the first six years of his two terms.

Only during the last two years of the Reagan administr- ation was the Congress completely controlled by Demo- crats, and the records show that the growth of the debt slowed during this period.

It appears that the frequently referenced Reaganís Conservative mythology is contrary to the truth, he was an award winning, record setting liberal spender.

The fact is that Reagan was able to push his tax cuts through both Houses of Congress, but he never pushed through any reduced spending programs. His weak leadership in this area makes him directly responsible for the unprecedented rise in borrowing during his time in office, an average of 13.8% per year.

The increase in total debt during Reaganís two terms was larger than all the debt accumulated by all the presidents before him combined. From 1983 through 1985, with a Republican Senate, the debt was increasing at over 17% per year. While Mr. Reagan was in office this nationís debt went from just under 1 trillion dollars to over 2.6 trillion dollars, a 200% increase. T

The sad part about this increase is that it was not to educate our children, or to improve our infrastructure, or to help the poor, or even to finance a war. Reaganís enormous increase in the national debt was not to pay for any noble cause at all; his primary unapologetic goal was to pad the pockets of the rich.

The huge national debt we have today is a living legacy to his failed Neo-Conservative economic policies. Reaganís legacy is a heavy financial weight that continues to apply an unrelenting drag on this nationís economic resources.

Please do your research.

Quote:

When Reagan entered office the United States inflation rate stood at 11.83%[83] and unemployment at 7.5%.[84] Reagan implemented policies based on supply-side economics and advocated a laissez-faire philosophy,[85] seeking to stimulate the economy with large, across-the-board tax cuts.[86][87] Citing the economic theories of Arthur Laffer, Reagan promoted the proposed tax cuts as potentially stimulating the economy enough to expand the tax base, offsetting the revenue loss due to reduced rates of taxation, a theory that entered political discussion as the Laffer curve. Reaganomics was the subject of debate with supporters pointing to improvements in certain key economic indicators as evidence of success, and critics pointing to large increases in federal budget deficits and the national debt. His policy of "peace through strength" (also described as "firm but fair") resulted in a record peacetime defense buildup including a 40% real increase in defense spending between 1981 and 1985.[88]

During Reagan's presidency federal income tax rates were lowered significantly with the signing of the bipartisan Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981.[89] Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth recovered strongly after the 1982 recession and grew during his eight years in office at an annual rate of 3.4% per year.[90] Unemployment peaked at 10.8% percent in December 1982óhigher than any time since the Great Depression then dropped during the rest of Reagan's presidency.[87] Sixteen million new jobs were created, while inflation significantly decreased.[91] The net effect of all Reagan-era tax bills was a 1% decrease in government revenues.[92] Reagan also revised the tax code with the bipartisan Tax Reform Act of 1986.[93]

Reagan took a horribly failing economy handed down to him by Jimmy Carter and created a prosperous country in a short amount of time.